spar hand planes

[thomas cashman]

I have made several of my own spar hand planes but i am having trouble sharpening the concave blade any suggestions?

[ken mcclure]

You can buy curved slips. There are some that are cone shaped, so that a particular area of the stone matches the curve of your iron.

Or, you can sharpen with wet/dry sandpaper over a wood form cut to match, and finish with a leather strop and honing compound on the same or a similar form.

[skuthorp]

In my work as a restoration bookbinder I use various curved blades and keep an edge on with a wooden cone, covered in leather and lightly pasted with gasket goo. My wifes' grandfathers shipwrights tools include shaped drawknives and spokeshaves with german and english blades and hand-made handles from wrecks in the Falklands.

[Paul Griffin]

Use your plane to to cut the blade shape into a piece of wood, then coat the blades shape with honing compound. Now you will have a perfectly shaped sharpening tool for that blade.
It is a tip I got from Lee Valley. I use it for my chisels, It works great.

Paul

[ 05-08-2002, 03:07 PM: Message edited by: Paul Griffin ]

[thomas cashman]

thanks for the good ideas

[Billy Bones]

I've had good results from a cylindrical diamond hone I bought 15 years ago for about $5. Plus it works well with carbide profiles. Finish with an Arkansas slip stone if you're fussy.